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'NO SHAME'

Ben Needham mum slams Greek cops for ‘ignoring’ evidence file as her missing son turns 30

MISSING Ben Needham's mum has slammed cops in Greece for not helping find her son just days after he would have turned 30.

Distraught Kerry Needham said Greek police "ignored" a file handed to them by British officers, who believe Ben died in a digger accident.

 Ben Needham vanished in 1991
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Ben Needham vanished in 1991Credit: PA:Press Association

Ben vanished aged just 21 months while he was staying with his grandparents in Kos in 1991. He would have turned 30 on Tuesday.

Kerry now wants prosecutors on the island to question a vital witness who told Brit cops about a potential accident but is now refusing to talk, reports.

She said: "I should have been planning a big party for Ben’s milestone birthday this week and blowing out candles. Instead I was lighting one in his memory.

“I’m ashamed of the Greek police. They are not doing their job. Any decent human being would want to find my son for me and to give closure to me and closure to the island.”

Ben was staying on the Greek island of Kos when he disappeared on July 24, 1991 - just three months shy of his second birthday.

SEARCH FOR BEN

Cops believe he was killed after being hit by a digger while playing with a toy car, which was discovered during a dig on the island last year.

In 2016, detectives from South Yorkshire police travelled to Kos in a renewed attempted to finally discover what had happened to Ben.

Kerry was given fresh hope when they unearthed both a sandal and a toy car specked with tiny drops of blood.

But the devastated mum’s hopes were dashed last November, when forensic tests revealed that it did not match Ben’s DNA.

The toy car was discovered after an elderly witness approached British police on Kos and told them a digger driver called Konstantinos "Dino" Barkas was behind Ben’s death.

He asked Barkas, who has since died, whether there had been an accident, causing him to reply: "Yes it’s possible. I heard a yelp but I thought it was a dog.”

Kerry said the prosecutor on Kos has been given the report but claims she has "heard nothing".

The mum added: "We haven’t even got a grave to go to. It’s so unfair.”

South Yorkshire Police confirmed a file has been passed to the Greek authorities and they were waiting for a meeting with the new prosecutor.

 Kerry Needham said police should be 'ashamed'
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Kerry Needham said police should be 'ashamed'Credit: PA:Press Association
 The car discovered by police during the search for Ben Needham
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The car discovered by police during the search for Ben NeedhamCredit: South Yorkshire Police
 Greek cops had been certain the tot died in an accident on the island after finding his toy car
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Greek cops had been certain the tot died in an accident on the island after finding his toy carCredit: Getty Images
Heartbroken family share tribute to missing child Ben Needham
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